Colwell Megan J, Williams Geoffrey R, Evans Rodger C, Shutler Dave
Department of Biology Acadia University Wolfville NS Canada.
Present address: Department of Entomology University of Manitoba Winnipeg MB Canada R3T 2N2.
Ecol Evol. 2017 Aug 5;7(18):7243-7253. doi: 10.1002/ece3.3178. eCollection 2017 Sep.
European honey bees are important commercial pollinators that have suffered greater than normal overwintering losses since 2007 in North America and Europe. Contributing factors likely include a combination of parasites, pesticides, and poor nutrition. We examined diet diversity, diet nutritional quality, and pesticides in honey bee-collected pollen from commercial colonies in the Canadian Maritime Provinces in spring and summer 2011. We sampled pollen collected by honey bees at colonies in four site types: apple orchards, blueberry fields, cranberry bogs, and fallow fields. Proportion of honey bee-collected pollen from crop versus noncrop flowers was high in apple, very low in blueberry, and low in cranberry sites. Pollen nutritional value tended to be relatively good from apple and cranberry sites and poor from blueberry and fallow sites. Floral surveys ranked, from highest to lowest in diversity, fallow, cranberry, apple, and blueberry sites. Pesticide diversity in honey bee-collected pollen was high from apple and blueberry sites and low from cranberry and fallow sites. Four different neonicotinoid pesticides were detected, but neither these nor any other pesticides were at or above LD levels. Pollen hazard quotients were highest in apple and blueberry sites and lowest in fallow sites. Pollen hazard quotients were also negatively correlated with the number of flower taxa detected in surveys. Results reveal differences among site types in diet diversity, diet quality, and pesticide exposure that are informative for improving honey bee and land agro-ecosystem management.
欧洲蜜蜂是重要的商业授粉昆虫，自2007年以来在北美和欧洲越冬损失比正常情况更为严重。促成因素可能包括寄生虫、杀虫剂和营养不良等多种因素。我们研究了2011年春夏加拿大海洋省份商业蜂群采集的蜜蜂花粉中的饮食多样性、饮食营养质量和杀虫剂情况。我们对蜜蜂在四种场地类型的蜂群采集的花粉进行了采样：苹果园、蓝莓田、蔓越莓沼泽和休耕地。蜜蜂采集的来自作物花与非作物花的花粉比例在苹果园较高，在蓝莓田非常低，在蔓越莓场地较低。苹果园和蔓越莓场地的花粉营养价值往往相对较好，而蓝莓田和休耕地的则较差。花卉调查按多样性从高到低对休耕地、蔓越莓地、苹果园和蓝莓田进行了排名。蜜蜂采集的花粉中的农药多样性在苹果园和蓝莓田较高，在蔓越莓地和休耕地较低。检测到四种不同的新烟碱类杀虫剂，但这些以及任何其他杀虫剂都未达到或超过致死剂量水平。花粉危害商数在苹果园和蓝莓田最高，在休耕地最低。花粉危害商数也与调查中检测到的花卉分类单元数量呈负相关。结果揭示了不同场地类型在饮食多样性、饮食质量和农药暴露方面的差异，这些差异对改善蜜蜂和陆地农业生态系统管理具有参考价值。
